Smear tests are about detecting changes before cancer develops, but do you know that there is a HPV vaccine that with two doses helps protect girls against cervical cancer too? All girls can get the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine free from the NHS from the age of 12 up to their 18th birthday- usually via school. The HPV vaccine is effective at stopping girls getting the types of HPV that cause most cervical cancers. I heard recently on BBC Radio Tees, whilst driving to work, that nationally the vaccine uptake is 84%, but in Middlesbrough it is only 71% In July 2018, it was also announced that the HPV vaccine will be extended to boys aged 12 to 13 years in England from the 2019/2020 school year, which will offer further protection to girls and boys against the 100 types of HPV that can cause other cancers such as anal and genital cancers and cancers of the head and neck as well as warts, verrucaes and genital warts.